Overview

Main description

Based on the popular textbook Rules of Thumb, this handy quick-reference guide has been designed for use by students or anyone else in need of writing advice. It's an all-in-one, at-aglance resource that provides fast, concise answers to common questions about:

Grammar

Punctuation

Style

Usage

Formal Correspondence

E-mails

Memos

Proposals

Resumes

Searching the Web

Creating templates

Editing

And more

Author comments

Jay Silverman (New York, NY) has received national fellowships and an Honors Program Award for Excellence in Teaching at Nassau Community College. Diana Roberts Wienbroer (New York, NY) has taught writing for more than 30 years and served as chair of the English Department of Nassau Community College.

Back cover copy

Wracking your brain over writing?

Puzzled by punctuation? Groaning over grammar?

YOU NEED SHORTCUTS.

When you're a student, writing an assignment that's due tomorrow, you don't have time to flip through a massive grammar textbook or study a style and usage guide. You need Shortcuts for the Student Writer, the ultimate all-in-one reference source with fast and easy answers to all your writing questions. Everything you need to know--grammar, style, usage, and punctuation--is here in one quick-reference volume. Designed especially for the student writer, this handy guide even includes special sections on researching and writing term papers and essays.

The Smartest Way to Avoid Stupid Mistakes

Find quick answers to the most common questions: Its or it's? There, they're, or their? Good or well? Lay or lie? All right or alright?

The Fastest Way to Check Grammar and Punctuation

Learn when to capitalize, abbreviate, or italicize--and how to use periods, commas, colons, semicolons, dashes, quotation marks, and parentheses.

Jay Silverman has received national fellowships and an Honors Program Award for Excellence in Teaching at Nassau Community College. Elaine Hughes taught writing for over 25 years--in colleges, business seminars, and creativity workshops. Diana Roberts Wienbroer has taught writing for more than 30 years and served as chair of the English Department of Nassau Community College.